Keeping A Reputation In Jay Asher's Novel 'Thirteen Reasons Why'

In the novel The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, two social groups, the Socs and the Greasers, are rivals because of their different places in society. Throughout the novel, the main character Ponyboy Curtis’ feelings and attitude towards the Socs change. Ponyboy finally learns at the end of the novel that although a group of people may have a reputation, that reputation may not hold true to individuals.

In Thirteen Reasons Why written by Jay Asher, figurative language was used to contribute to the overall tone of the book. Many authors use figurative language, to help readers imagine the struggles or the excitement that occurs throughout the story. “My stomach squeezes on itself, ready to make me throw up if I let it.” (Asher,10) Asher used personification to help the readers truly understand how the whole problem with Hannah and getting the tapes made him feel. Authors also use figurative language to show how other characters contribute to the plot of the story. A couple of pages later Hannah describes the cassettes and passing them to each person was like a game. “That’s right, like battleship.” (Asher,13) By using a simile it helps make

Joyce Carol Oates’ “Life After High School” is a story of masked identity, which the one of the main characters, Zachary, experiences. Society’s views on sexuality and what was perceived as “right” or “wrong” influence how each character develops, but as the story progresses, the characters evolve and “shed” their masks. The descriptions Oates uses for each character’s persona are crucial in order to sway the reader’s perceptions on the evolution of the character. In Zachary’s case, he hides his true sexuality. This is shown through the use of diction, imagery and symbolism.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

The reader often searches for a glimpse of himself in the characters he is reading about, and this is especially true with the adolescent readers of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The author paints a picture of a conflicted youth by emphasizing his idiosyncrasies, and although Caulfield’s traits may seem exaggerated and alien at times, he is a character who is relatable to American youth today. Holden Caulfield has a strong sense of civic duty that is overshadowed only by his suicidal tendencies, is exceedingly sensitive to the evil in the world and prone to angst, yet empathetic to the emotional upheaval other children will experience when entering adulthood.

The author portrays the message of standing for what you believe is right, never feeling pressured to conform to the attitude, values of other individuals. This is shown through Anthony who chooses to conform to Lance’s peer pressure yet consciously aware of the outcome of invading another person’s privacy. Although Anthony has good moral values, he fears Lance and therefore is unable to bring out the

S.E Hinton’s, “The Outsiders” and Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s ,“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” are two young adult novels with greatly different stories yet support the same ideology. Both works focus on the lives of two teenage boys, Ponyboy, of Hinton’s novel, and Aristotle, of Sáenz’s. The story of Ponyboy takes place in the year 1969, and focuses on a huge but short period of his life. It tells about his struggle as an orphan under the care of his two older brothers and deals with gang violence, socioeconomic status, and death. Whereas, the story of Aristotle takes place during the 1980’s and covers a long period of his life and involves his experiences with his relationship with his hands-on parents, his sexual orientation, and struggling with his awkward years. There are many conceptions of what is appropriate for young readers, but these two novels defend that young people should be informed. By examining “The Outsiders” and “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”, this ideology of communicating mature topics to these readers is supported as the characters of both novels deal with the challenges of belonging, identity, and staying true to themselves, as well as reinforce the notion that adolescents can benefit from this knowledge.

From its publication, The Catcher in the Rye gained widespread aversion from schools through its blatant profanity. But despite the time gap since the publication in the 1950s until now, the book explores immortal themes of adolescence and maturing still relevant today. Symbolizing the average teenage life, adolescents throughout the country are able to connect to Holden without question. As Holden agonizes over his purpose and depression, teens relate to this some intangible part of themselves. Holden frustrates over dating, drinking, low grades, switching schools, and life in general. Suddenly, in a second, as the adult world threatens the once serene childhood, as the weight of responsibility of being an adult crashes, Holden crumbles.

No matter where we live, it is no wonder that different people experience different levels of achievements and relatively different kinds of evaluation by other people in every area in life. Most people want the evaluation towards themselves to be more favorable than the one towards others. In most cases, these values in the process of evaluation are viewed in a more honorable manner. On the contrary, these values can be hated by others, which defines as jealousy as a feeling of being fearful of being displaced by a rival. The book, “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden, manifests a great theme of jealousy between both protagonists, Xavier and Elijah, who play their roles as the snipers during the First World War. The story demonstrates a bitter act of jealousy by whom the spotlight shines upon; jealousy of fame. As many would agree, based on the evidence from the story, jealousy is a harmful act which has negative influences on human relationships, emotional stability, and human nature.

Accordingly the protagonist’s lack of maturity is shown in a lack of concern for the consequences of his actions combined with his belief that a bad reputation was all he needed .At the confrontation at

In modern society, we often face competition to survive. We may forget our own truth because of our selfish behavior. However, no person can say that people who value their integrity highly are good people, and no one is curious about what is and is not really ethical behavior. There are always certain experiences that shape a person's moral standpoint and integrity. In Old School by Tobias Wolff, he expresses this message in the book. The main character of the book, is a fictional alter ego of Tobias Wolff. Throughout this novel, He is trying to provide the basis of truth by using various scenes, characters, and other incidents, he expressed it. Reading this novel, the audience will probably be curious about what is true and untruthful. Wolff did not say the name of the protagonist in this novel, but by writing in the first person, he portrayed the main charger as another self of himself, and through this manner, readers have had the opportunity to lead themselves. Readers are left to ask, “what is the truthfulness and false in our live.

One reason teens should read 13 reasons why is because it teaches people that words someone says can actually hurt people. Words truly do hurt, and at this moment Hannah Baker is standing in a store named Blue Spot. Hannah is about to experience that very situation of how words can hurt. While Hannah is standing at the cash register a guy walks in, Hannah doesn't like him because he has put her on the list of best butt in high school class. This guy walk around the store and then walks up behind Hannah and stood there waiting,

Junior’s discovery of identity and place within his world is a predominant theme in the novel and one with which teens can relate; however, several other young adult characteristics and developmental issues are addressed as well. Junior and his peers are experiencing a time of rapid physical, hormonal and cognitive development as are the most likely readers of the book. Like many adolescent girls, Penelope is concerned with her body appearance and popularity. She is a bulimic attempting to keep up her “pretty and smart and popular” (108) image. Junior is concerned with appearances in a more internal way - hiding his

Every individual struggle with self-acceptance at some point in their life, furthermore, every individual chooses to exemplify their struggle to accept themselves in different methods. In the short story “Boys and Girls” Alice Munro focuses on the narration of a girl, in which girls are underappreciated in the society. The protagonist in the story cannot accept who she is, and it makes it harder for her as other individuals do not accept who she wishes to be. The author demonstrates this through the character’s external motivations. As the story is written in third person limited readers understand the girl’s personal thoughts and how she is internally conflicted about who she is. She feels underappreciated for the work that she provides which influences her to be disobedient to others around her. Alice Munroe’s short story “Boys and Girls” demonstrates to readers that individuals struggle for self-acceptance through the expression of their external and internal motivations. Because of their motivations, individuals feel rebellious against their self-conscience.

Youth is the time of deadly dangers. It is a time where one simple mistake can spiral the rest of one’s life out of control. Although trials and tribulations await for those who enter this stage of life, there are many of those who have survived through this treacherous storm of confusion and angst. Two of these contestants that have made huge strides in this game are Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, and Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Holden, a youth from New York, has been expelled from his high school: Pencey Prep. Finally, having enough of his life, he goes out and ventures onto wherever the wind blows. With only himself and his pessimistic personality to brave the world, he desperately clings